The word doge is from the Venetian dialect and translates to duke. The doge was the chief magistrate of the Republic of Venice, an elected official who served for life. The office was first established in 697 when the scattered settlements in the area pulled together and elected Paoluccio Anafesto to govern their newly formed city. Since the 12th century, the election of the doge was carried out by a committee selected by the Great Council, the governing body of Venice. One of the doge's tasks was to participate in a ceremony that took place each year on Ascension Day. Followed by a procession of clerics and nobles, he would go out on a ceremonial barge and toss a ring into the Adriatic to symbolically enact the ancient ritual of the marriage to the sea. With this, the doge asserted Venice's preeminence as a maritime power.
Historical dictionary of Renaissance art. Lilian H. Zirpolo. 2008.